Research Design Service North West

RDS NW e-bulletin – September 2022

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RDS NW e-bulletin

September 2022

 

The role of Public Co-applicants and Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Leads on research funding applications event – save the date

24 November 2022 – Online

This event will offer a great opportunity to explore the roles of Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Leads and Public Co-applicants in research funding applications.

The sessions will help you gain a better understanding of what makes an effective PPI Lead and how to effectively support Public Co-applicants in research projects.

The event is for Public contributors, researchers and health and social care professionals who want to learn more about PPI leads and public co-applicants, and the support available to them.

The following areas will be covered:

  • myth busting: what is a PPI lead? What is a public co-applicant?
  • the role of the PPI Lead
  • the role of public co-applicants
  • support and good practice of public co-applicants
  • what does a funding committee look for?
  • Question and answer session with PPI leads and public co-applicants.

The event is organised by the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS).

Full details and registration will be available soon on the RDS resources events page.

 

RDS Resources: Innovative qualitative methods resources

RDS Resources has a growing number of helpful resources aimed at helping you produce high quality funding applications.

One such resource recently published is “Innovative qualitative methods resources.”

RDS specialist advisers, have recently produced a list of useful resources on innovative qualitative methods, providing links to online training materials, recommended readings and toolkits.

This list cover resources in:

  • Meta-ethnography
  • Realist and meta-narrative evidence review/synthesis
  • Innovative ethnographic approaches
  • Linguistic approaches
  • Participatory research methods
  • Creative methods
  • Person-Based Approach for developing health interventions.
 

RDS Blog: Beyond interviews and focus groups – the value of innovative qualitative designs

There is a welcoming trend for qualitative design methods to be included and valued as part of the methodology to investigate a research question.

The RDS blog this month goes one step further and calls for researchers to look beyond the more familiar qualitative methods to more innovative designs that can enhance your project even further.

Read the blog here.

 

Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances call – phase 1 briefing webinar recording

The new NIHR Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances is holding a three phase funding call for research on developing, evaluating and implementing interventions to reduce and prevent demand for ‘recreational drugs’.

The Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances call will focus on reducing demand, and therefore reducing use, of so-called ‘recreational drugs’ such as powder cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy and nitrous oxide. The fund will support the development and piloting of new population level interventions, their evaluation and future roll-out in the community, if found to be effective.

The call will run over three phases: phase 1 (development), phase 2 (evaluation), and phase 3 (implementation). Phase 1 proposals can be for up to £200k over 6 months, phase 2 proposals up to £500k over 12 months, and phase 3 proposals up to £500k over 10 months. Successful proposals at phase 1 can apply for phase 2 and (if successful) phase 3 funding. However, new proposals can also directly apply for phase 2 funding and phase 3 funding.

If you are developing an application for phase 1 of this call a recording of the RDS hosted online briefing event is available here.  You can also access the slides from the briefing here.

The deadline for phase 1 proposals is 1.00pm 12 October 2022.  Note in order to apply all applicants will have needed to submit an expression of interest by 1.00pm 28 September 2022.

Request advice on your application.

 

NIHR Research for Social Care – competition 6 open for applications

Application deadline – 18 January 2023

Research for Social Care (RfSC)  is inviting research proposals that will generate evidence to improve, expand and strengthen the way social care is delivered for people who draw on social care support and services, carers, and the public.

RfSC research is expected to have a high degree of involvement from relevant users of social care and social care practitioners throughout the research.

RfSC welcomes high-quality proposals from researchers and practitioners that are focused on:

  • Social care needs and relevant outcomes related to adult and/or children and young people’s social care (which could be quality of life, improvement of social care and other interrelated factors, as appropriate to the study, population etc.)
  • Developing a more robust evidence base for current ways of working
  • Developing and evaluating new ways of delivering social care
  • Secondary data analysis, record linkage and reviews
  • Research methods development
  • Care users’ and carers’ circumstances and needs
  • Those who deliver social care including unpaid carers and the staff and professionals involved in the delivery of social care e.g. social workers.

The submission deadline for applications is 1pm on 18 January 2023. For more details visit the RfSC call page.

RfSC is also participating in the highlight notice for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The NIHR is inviting research proposals that seek to develop the critical underlying infrastructure to accelerate progress in and learning from MND clinical trials.

Request advice on your application.

 

Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) Round 2 – support to undertake a PhD for those based within local authorities

The NIHR has launched the second round of its Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship Scheme.

The Doctoral Local Authority Fellowship (DLAF) scheme funds individuals based within local authorities and supporting services to undertake a PhD by research whilst concurrently developing professional skill sets within their existing setting.

DLAFs are available to individuals of any profession (excluding doctors or dentists) and so represent a particularly exciting opportunity for individuals who are not eligible for support through the HEE/NIHR ICA Programme but wish to develop a practitioner academic career.

The DLAF is a three year award (up to six years part time), of which:

  • approximately 80% will be spent working and developing academically
  • approximately 20% will be spent in practice and undertaking professional development.

Applicants are required to have the support of an English local authority or supporting service and an English university and propose to hold a contract of employment with one of these organisations for the hours and duration of the fellowship.

The closing date for application is 15 November 2022.  More details can be found in the DLAF guidance notes.

Request advice on your application.

 

Artificial intelligence e-learning launched for researchers

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) e-learning course in partnership with Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation and the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Healthcare at Imperial College London, to build AI awareness and knowledge for professionals developing and delivering research.

The self-paced training course is designed for clinical researchers that could benefit from AI methods. Specific groups include research nurses, research managers, full-time researchers and clinicians.

Key topics covered on the programme include:

  • the current landscape of AI and machine learning technologies, and how they can be used in the healthcare sector
  • key AI definitions and concepts, and an introduction to the evaluation metrics used to assess the performance of an AI solution
  • an overview of different organisations able to provide support with setting up and developing an AI research study in the UK
  • practical challenges of developing and introducing AI in healthcare, and regulatory and ethical requirements which are factored into its use.

The ‘Introduction To Artificial Intelligence For Clinical Researchers’ e-learning course sits on NIHR Learn, an online NIHR platform that’s used to deliver accredited learning programmes. NIHR Learn is available to anyone directly employed by the NHS, UK universities and other publicly funded organisations conducting and supporting clinical research.

 

NIHR Senior Research Leader Programme for nurses and midwives

The NIHR is launching a new Senior Research Leader Programme for nurses and midwives. It will build on the success of the 70@70 Senior Nurse and Midwife Leaders programme which concluded in March this year.

The aim of the new three-year programme is to realise the untapped potential of many more senior nurses and midwives. The NIHR wants to empower them to further increase research capacity and capability and support their development as future research leaders.

Applications are open to senior nurse and midwife research leaders across the country and will close at 1.00pm on 24 October 2022, ready for the new programme to begin in April next year. It will fund each senior research leader to be seconded for three years at 0.4 of whole time equivalent within a health or social care setting.

The NIHR is calling on senior nurses and midwives across England to apply and build on their leadership skills in research. The Senior Research Leader Programme: Nursing and Midwifery will ensure applicants have dedicated time to share their learnings across organisations and the wider NHS. The first cohort of the programme will run from April 2023 until March 2026. The programme will run on an annual basis, with 15 nurses and midwives recruited to it every year.

 

Events and webinars

NIHR funding opportunities

Request advice on your application.

 

Always check with the event organisers/funder for latest information.